Cosponsored with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz), the legislation (S. 3205) additionally requires the U.S. Justice Department to devise a plan for improving controls on substances that could be used to make biological weapons; requires the President to create a task force to discourage fundraising in the United States for international terrorist organizations, and directs that a study be made of information-sharing among law enforcement agencies regarding suspected terrorists.

"The bill lays the groundwork for a number of further improvements," Feinstein said in a press statement. "We will be revisiting many of the issues covered by the bill in the next Congress once we receive more detailed information and recommendations from the Executive Branch."

Countering terrorism was also addressed by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) in a speech Nov. 15 to the Conference on National Strategies and Capabilities for a Changing World, held in Arlington, Va.

Levin said he believes terrorism is a greater danger to the United States than the possibility of some rogue nation launching an attack missile.

"If I had to choose between a defense against a North Korean ICBM and the development of technology to detect explosives at long-range so as to help protect us from terrorist attacks by a truck or a boat loaded with high explosives, I would choose the latter," he said.

"We need to recognize the extent to which some extremist leaders abuse religion as a tool of hate and intolerance, and we should find a way to expose their efforts as inconsistent with the true tenets of their religion," Levin said. "We also need to make greater use of 'Red Teams,' including the use of foreign-born personnel, to help us better understand the thinking of other cultures and the hatreds produced by different experiences. Another important step might be to attempt to convince the leaders of all religious faiths to join in a condemnation of terrorist activity." --
Donald H. Harrison